Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#541

Post by snowwrestler » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 12:56 PM UTC

willis936 wrote: post #261

snowwrestler wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This whole framing is bull. People who grew up without closed captions are just used to watching a show without it. For them, it’s distracting to constantly have words to look down and read when they are trying to pay attention to what is happening on the screen. Like trying to read the words on every single road sign when you drive somewhere. You may notice that in movie theaters—the most focused and immersive watch…

I'm closer to 20 than 60. I did not grow up with CCs. I use them because they are an option and give me something I want. If there is bullshit framing then it is the very notion of assumptions based on age, which is caked into the headline.

The bullshit framing is that there is any correlation between having CC on, and how closely the viewer is paying attention to the show or movie. There is not, as evidenced by a century of cinema and TV.

Movies originally had captions, because there was no dialogue track. As soon as they figured out synchronized sound, the captions went away. Even if people were paying very close attention.

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#542

Post by oh_my_goodness » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 12:57 PM UTC

One more vote for "it's not my age, it's the mumbling and the sound engineering."

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#543

Post by viburnum » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:01 PM UTC

kayodelycaon wrote: post #240

I always have them on because I have audio processing issues. Due to ADHD and other problems, my brain can’t process in real time. If I have difficulty understanding something, my brain stops hearing while I attempt to figure out what was said. My auditory memory has no buffering ability. If I’m reading, I’m both able to understand faster and reread if I need to.

Same here. I’m also less like to reach for my phone if I have something to read on screen.

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#544

Post by autoexec » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:02 PM UTC

ninkendo wrote: post #131

perrygeo wrote: post #45

The fact that there's a claimed generational gap here speaks more to the values of the generations re: passive vs active entertainment. I could also ask: "Why do all these 60-Somethings have the TV on as background noise while doing other tasks?" To me it seems closed-caption usage is correlated with actually paying attention to television consumption. People who have their TV on at all hours, as background entertain…

I wish there was a CC mode for “I’m not deaf, I just don’t catch the quiet mumbly dialog sometimes so give me captions only of the dialog.” Bonus if it’s delayed by exactly 2 seconds, so that it doesn’t spoil jokes, and I can quickly reference it if I missed something someone said (helping me avoid fixating on the captions.) Because it’s the CC descriptions of music swells and things like “[laughs] and “[crying]”, et…

> Because it’s the CC descriptions of music swells and things like “[laughs] and “[crying]”, etc that are distracting for me, and not needed.

This drives me nuts too, especially when they're being subjective and I'm asking myself things like 'Was that music really "ominous"? Didn't seem that way...'

Another thing that bugs me is when captions reveal a character's name to indicate who is speaking when the name of that character hasn't actually been revealed in the story yet.

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#545

Post by BLKNSLVR » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:05 PM UTC

jononomo wrote: post #537

I have never understood surround sound: just mix the audio in mono and make sure that every word can be cleanly heard by my father who is 85 and uses a hearing aid. As an unintended side effect your movie will be more widely appreciated by every other demographic. The premise of surround sound is that it is extremely important to know the direction that the sound is coming from -- but when you sacrifice the audience'…

I seem to be missing the gene that most people my age have that requires them to have 5.1 or 7.1 sound, and I consider myself to be somewhat of a movie connoisseur. Actually, maybe that's why.

I can feel immersed in a movie without needing the sound to 'prove' it. The picture is still that little window in front of me, why does the sound need to be all over?

Happy to be educated as to all the reasons I'm missing out on 'the real experience' though.

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#546

Post by throwawayForMe2 » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:07 PM UTC

nogridbag wrote: post #232

boltzmann-brain wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The slurred dialog is obnoxious and a sign of laziness on everyone's part. The miking, the post processing, the overdubbing (if there's any at all - recent film makers don't seem to know that this is a thing). The actor's speech pattern, where they direct their speech while acting, even how they stand and where. The choice of location and additional preparation of the stage so the speech can be picked up clearly. It'…

Would a soundbar help the situation or make it worse? With two kids 90% of the time I'm watching kids movies but I still turn on the closed captions. Any background noise and it's nearly impossible to hear the dialogue without cranking up the volume to an undesirable level.

A Bose sound bar with an “enhanced dialogue” mode helped me greatly.

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#547

Post by daniel-cussen » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:08 PM UTC

mihaaly wrote: post #519

ryandrake wrote: post #136

One more vote for terrible audio mixes and one for actors who mumble their dialog. Whenever I watch movies with my wife, we constantly have to fiddle with the remote control. The loud parts (including explosions and music) are too loud for her, so we have to turn the volume down during those parts, but the dialog is too quiet and mumbly for me to hear, so we turn the volume up during those parts. We now just keep the…

Exactly!! Things became worse in the past 10 or something years (I am a 40 something btw.). As the article states we used subtitles in movies to learn language and to understand thick accent. However throughout time while we got better and better in comprehension the use of subtitles remained the same in overall. But very uneven too. Old movies (not yet seen) and movies for children are never a problem. Also some pro…

No post body was provided.

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#548

Post by smeej » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:13 PM UTC

capableweb wrote: post #495

ninkendo wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish there was a CC mode for “I’m not deaf, I just don’t catch the quiet mumbly dialog sometimes so give me captions only of the dialog.” Bonus if it’s delayed by exactly 2 seconds, so that it doesn’t spoil jokes, and I can quickly reference it if I missed something someone said (helping me avoid fixating on the captions.) Because it’s the CC descriptions of music swells and things like “[laughs] and “[crying]”, et…

> Bonus if it’s delayed by exactly 2 seconds, so that it doesn’t spoil jokes, and I can quickly reference it if I missed something someone said (helping me avoid fixating on the captions.) I think that'd ruin me more than not having subtitles at all, because I just get stuck at reading the subtitles all the time if they are on (which, I have on 99% of the time). I go so far to avoid content that doesn't have subtitle…

3Play Media's format could do this. Their output is usually a transcript where you can click on any word and it will take you to that second of the video. The software they've developed for the people who create the captions does go second by second as well.

I don't know if they've ever considered having that as a display option. They're just one of the only companies I can think of for whom it wouldn't involve a whole rethinking of how they create the captions.

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#549

Post by adamisom » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:15 PM UTC

perrygeo wrote: post #45

The fact that there's a claimed generational gap here speaks more to the values of the generations re: passive vs active entertainment. I could also ask: "Why do all these 60-Somethings have the TV on as background noise while doing other tasks?" To me it seems closed-caption usage is correlated with actually paying attention to television consumption. People who have their TV on at all hours, as background entertain…

I personally use my phone sometimes when CC are on, splitting my attention—CC make it easier to not miss too much flirting back n forth.

By contrast I always pay attention when CC is off.

Given how much younger people use their my phone, I’m gonna say my hypothesis is plausible.

Re: Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on?

#550

Post by rtpg » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:19 PM UTC

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #368

boltzmann-brain wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The slurred dialog is obnoxious and a sign of laziness on everyone's part. The miking, the post processing, the overdubbing (if there's any at all - recent film makers don't seem to know that this is a thing). The actor's speech pattern, where they direct their speech while acting, even how they stand and where. The choice of location and additional preparation of the stage so the speech can be picked up clearly. It'…

A little off topic but it’s really surprising how so few of the shows and movies these days give off any vibe of sincerity. From the acting to the writing to the CGI, everything seems to be winking at the audience and trying to tell them that they are all actors and its all make believe. The perfect example is Lord of the Rings vs The Rings of Power. I had no problems believing that Aragorn really lived in Middle Ear…

I remember... maybe 10 years ago? seeing a big OLED screen playing a very high def version of LOTR. You could see that the props were made of styrofoam.

Of course there is a lot of other stuff going on, but I do think that high fidelity really makes stuff hard. That combined with much more pressure to cut corners in post production (on top of more stuff needing to actually happen in post!) just makes it all fall apart.

Part of the problem when every story has to be the biggest thing ever, and a problem that other industries have hit (games in the PS3/PS4 generation).